Andy Burnham has been urged to be “brave” and revive a £500m scheme allowing councils to buy housing for asylum seekers.
A group of 50 refugee charities have written to the new PM asking him to overhaul the “profiteering” asylum system, in a letter shared with The i Paper.
The system currently sees the Home Office hand billions of pounds to private firms to find and manage accommodation for people claiming asylum.
Some local authorities want to take on responsibility for their temporary accommodation – if they can be given funds to buy new homes or renovate empty ones.
Whitehall sources told The i Paper last month that a £500m asylum dispersal pilot – aimed at letting councils buy or refurbish properties – had been halted over concerns about cost.
However, one source said Burnham could still reactivate the proposal set out by the Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) last year.
Some left-wing Labour MPs back the idea. But other backbenchers fear an own goal allowing Reform UK to stoke public anger over the Government’s housing priorities.
One Labour MP told The i Paper it was “a good idea in principle”, but added: “The bigots would have a field day.”
Plan could add to public housing stock in long-term
Advocates who want Burnham to reexamine the plan insist it is not about giving social housing to asylum seekers, or offering them a council house tenancy.
It would allow local authorities to start using some of the huge sums already given to private contractors like Serco, Mears and Clearsprings for temporary accommodation.
Around 200 councils are believed to have expressed initial interest in the scheme, but several have told The i Paper they have yet to hear back from the Home Office or MHCLG.
Bella Sankey, leader of Labour-run Brighton and Hove City Council, one of the local authorities keen to take part, said she hoped “it could be looked at seriously again”.
The outsourced system is “wasteful”, said Sankey, adding that councils “could buy new premises” or “convert existing premises” if they were given at least some responsibility for temporary asylum accommodation.
“It’s not permanent. It’s not about offering council tenancies,” added Sankey. “There is money that is leaving Government and going to private companies that could instead be reinvested in housing that could potentially, over time, become part of councils’ wider housing stock.”
In the long term, if the asylum backlog can be brought down, councils could reuse the accommodation for social housing for the wider population, say advocates.
‘It’s not about queue jumping’
At the moment, Serco, Mears and Clearsprings continue to place asylum seekers in hotels, which have been the focal point of anti-immigration protests. The firms’ use of landlords’ houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) has also proved controversial.
In a bid to reduce numbers in hotels and deter migrants coming in small boats, Labour has expanded the use of former military camps, with the Crowborough and Wethersfield accommodation sites managed by Clearsprings.
Protesters at a planned site for an asylum-seekers at RAF Barnham in Thetford (Photo by Martin Pope/Getty)The 10-year contracts signed in 2019 will see £15.3bn in taxpayers’ money paid to the three companies, according to a National Audit Office report last year.
Kate Wareing, chief executive of Soha Housing Association in Oxfordshire, said re-investing the £2.1bn spent on putting asylum seekers in hotels in 2024-25 could allow councils or housing associations to buy or renovate 10,000 homes.
Houses could be bought from developers struggling to sell some homes on new developments, said Wareing.
“It’s not about queue jumping,” she added. “It’s not about social housing. It’s about adding to the temporary accommodation that we need and we already spend a huge amount on.”
Burnham could rip up current asylum contracts
Burnham said last month he would consider ripping up the multibillion-pound contracts with the private firms housing asylum seekers.
The Government’s 10-year deals with the private contractors are due to expire in 2029. But activating a break clause became an option earlier this year.
Asked if he would consider ending contracts early, Burnham said he was “open to a discussion with regional mayors” where “local solutions would be better than the situation that we have at the moment”.
However, a change could be limited to creating new contracts which give mayors and local authorities more of a say on where asylum seekers are placed across the UK, rather than going as far as giving councils money to buy new accommodation.
Burnham has said he wants to give local leaders more control (Photo: Jeff Overs/ Reuters)A letter to the PM signed by around 50 asylum and refugee support groups, organised by Refugee Action and shared with The i Paper, urged Burnham to be bold.
Calling for “more public control”, they said the outsourcing of asylum accommodation had created a system “hidden from scrutiny and accountability”.
Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, one of the groups which signed the letter, said it would be “hugely disappointing” if the Government did not take the £500m pilot scheme forward.
“I would say to Andy Burnham – find the fortitude to do something different. It needs bravery,” Calvey added.
Labour MPs worried about Reform-stoked backlash
Kim Johnson, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said the Government should give local authorities “the funding, powers and control to provide accommodation directly”.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, called for Burnham to end the “profiteering” in the system. “A council-led, community-based solution for asylum accommodation is exactly the sort of long-term investment the government should be making.”
However, many Labour backbenchers are wary. One MP in a “red wall” seat in the north of England said voters would be “even angrier” about councils providing housing to asylum seekers than they already are at the private contractors.
“You would also end up with a political lottery where Reform councils wouldn’t house anyone – so people would be further incentivised to elect Reform councils,” they said.
Another Labour MP also warned Reform and right-wing Tory councils would refuse to participate, making it a “non-starter” politically.
Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool, said he would not “in any way, shape or form” support councils creating housing for asylum seekers but said they should be given “the legal power to say no” to asylum accommodation in their area.
Last week the Conservatives said they wanted foreign nationals to lose their right to social housing – though anyone with EU settled status would not be evicted.
Asylum seekers do not get social housing, though those who get refugee status can become eligible. Housing group Shelter said “strict rules” on eligibility mean refugees need to be legally settled, have recourse to public funds, and pass a local connection test.
A Home Office spokesperson said it was “removing incentives drawing illegal migrants” to the UK – vowing to close every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into “basic accommodation like the Crowborough former military site”.
The Government has cut the number of asylum seekers in hotels by 35 per cent in the past year and reduced costs by £1bn, they added.
A spokesperson for Mears Group said its profit margins were contractually agreed “at a level which demonstrates value for money for the taxpayer for the services provided and risks managed”.
Accommodation is “approved and regularly inspected by the Home Office”, they added. Serco and Clearsprings were approached for comment.
Hence then, the article about councils want to buy homes for asylum seekers but labour mps fear reform backlash was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Councils want to buy homes for asylum seekers – but Labour MPs fear Reform backlash )
Also on site :
- Hang Elon Musk Around Susan Collins’s Neck
- This nuclear startup and Halliburton repurposed oil-drilling tech in a bid to solve America’s radioactive waste problem
- Quote Of The Day By Tom Hanks: Being Kind Is Just Being Open To A Possibility Of Making A Simple Choice That...